Wesley Grimes

#6 · WR · Sr. · NC State6′2″ · 193 lb · Raleigh, NC · Millbrook

Wesley Grimes is a wide receiver who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at NC State.

Grimes moves the chains on third down. Played for two head coaches at two programs in four seasons: Dave Clawson and Dave Doeren. One game to point at: 121 receiving yards and 4 receptions against East Carolina — Week 1, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Stephon Johnson Jr.Houston · 2024 · 85% season match
Tory HortonColorado State · 2024 · 84% season match
Latreal JonesSouthern Miss · 2023 · 82% season match
Javon IvoryMemphis · 2021 · 81% season match
Louis BrownSan Diego State · 2024 · 81% season match

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	NC State	31	458	14.8	3	48
2024	NC State	24	319	13.3	1	30
2023	Wake Forest	20	339	16.9	4	49
2022	Wake Forest	4	33	8.2	1	13
Career		79	1,149	14.5	9	49

Season	Team
2025	NC State	1	−3	--
2024	NC State	--	--	--
2023	Wake Forest	--	--	40
2022	Wake Forest	--	--	--
Career		1	−3	40

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Wk 1	W 24-17vs East Carolina	4	121	30.3	1	48
Wk 2	W 35-31vs Virginia	2	33	16.5	0	21
Wk 3	W 34-24@ Wake Forest	3	19	6.3	0	14
Wk 5	L 21-23vs Virginia Tech	3	36	12.0	0	27
Wk 6	W 56-10vs Campbell	2	34	17.0	0	27
Wk 7	L 7-36@ No. 16 Notre Dame	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 9	L 34-53@ Pittsburgh	4	45	11.3	0	37
Wk 10	W 48-36vs No. 8 Georgia Tech	4	49	12.3	0	24
Wk 13	W 21-11vs Florida State	1	12	12.0	0	12
Wk 14	W 42-19vs North Carolina	5	61	12.2	1	18
Bowl	W 31-7vs Memphis	3	48	16.0	1	31
Total		31	458	14.8	3	48

Signature game

Week 1 · 2025

W 24-17

vs East Carolina

4 rec · 121 yds · 1 TD

A close one, won by 7 at home.

With C. Bailey — 318 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 78.5 · 21 rush yds (7 car) · 1 TD · C. Noonkester — 46 yards per punt · 4 punts · 2 inside the 20

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 1 · East Carolina · 2nd and 10 · Q2 · EPA +4.76Bailey to Grimes: a 48-yard touchdown pass.
Week 1 · Memphis · 3rd and 10 · Q1 · EPA +4.22Bailey to Grimes: a 31-yard touchdown pass.
Week 5 · Virginia Tech · 3rd and 11 · Q2 · EPA +3.41CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 27 yds to the VT 49 for a
Week 5 · Virginia Tech · 3rd and 7 · Q4 · EPA +3.15CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 20 yds to the VT 37 for a
Week 6 · Campbell · 2nd and 19 · Q3 · EPA +2.89CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 27 yds to the CAM 2 for a
Week 14 · North Carolina · 2nd and 10 · Q1 · EPA +2.88Bailey to Grimes: a 15-yard touchdown pass.

4 more plays

Week 1 · East Carolina · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +2.64CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 46 yds to the ECU 19 for a
Week 1 · East Carolina · 2nd and 11 · Q2 · EPA +2.02CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 15 yds to the NCSU 39 for a
Week 14 · North Carolina · 2nd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +1.98Bailey to Grimes: an 18-yard pass.
Week 1 · Memphis · 3rd and 7 · Q3 · EPA +1.94C.Bailey pass complete short left to W.Grimes caught at NC St.39, for 7 yards to the NC St.39 (O.Cooper)

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

24%10 of his 41 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Teams and coaches

2022Wake Forest8-5HC: Dave Clawson · Balanced

2023Wake Forest4-8HC: Dave Clawson · Run-leaning

2024NC State6-7HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced, slow tempo

2025NC State8-5HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 47 (#252 of 485). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2025 season

47Rotational starter #252 of 485 · 2025?

13 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: explosive rate (86th percentile). Strength: fumbles lost (81st percentile). Concern: td rate (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#108 / 798 · 86th pct

17.1%

Yards / catch#195 / 798 · 76th pct

13.9

EPA / target#285 / 798 · 64th pct

0.51

Catch rate#453 / 798 · 43rd pct

65.9%

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (8)

Fumbles lost#1 / 218 · 81st pct

Yards / catch#144 / 558 · 74th pct

14.8

Rec TDs#205 / 558 · 57th pct

Rec yards#250 / 558 · 55th pct

458

Long catch#260 / 558 · 52nd pct

Receptions#268 / 558 · 51st pct

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Rush yards#256 / 287 · 10th pct

-3

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

76th → 64th percentile

Explosive rate

86th → 86th percentile

Catch rate

59th → 43rd percentile

TD rate

34th → 18th percentile

Yards / catch

59th → 76th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2025. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	3.0	49.4	16.0	0.3
Road3g	2.3	21.3	8.8	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.4	41.6	16.3	0.3
Weeks 8+4g	3.5	41.8	11.9	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Dave Doeren

Pass share

49.7%

411 pass / 416 run

Plays / game

63.6

13 games

Team sack rate

4.7%

422 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

31 catches and 1 carry in 11 games

Fewer catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

47 · #252 of 485 WRs · 2025

Former four-star. Now #252 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #35 of 64 ACC WRs

How the All-ACC base rate is computed

A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).